Fifty Shades Darker movie: James Foley may direct Jamie Dornan and Dakota Johnson in erotic movie sequel

Jamie Dornan and Dakota Johnson may have been confirmed to return as Christian Grey and Anastasia Steele for the kinky love story but the producers had been searching for a name to helm the film. It now looks like Universal Studios may soon find a director for its highly awaited movie Fifty Shades Darker after Sam Taylor-Johnson's exit from the BDSM-themed blockbuster franchise.

Deadline reports that James Foley has emerged as one of the favourable candidates to helm the second part of the trilogy based on the erotic novels written by EL James. It has also been speculated that he may direct Fifty Shades Freed, the final film of the popular series.

However, the studio is yet to initiate the talk process with the House Of Cards director. The website claims that Universal will soon finalise him as a replacement for Taylor-Johnson.

The 48-year-old British director led the first movie to become a global blockbuster. However, she exited the franchise after she had creative differences with James, the author of the novel.

The first film which cost $40m to make went on to gross $569m worldwide. Jamie Dornan and Dakota Johnson will return to reprise their roles of the billionaire entrepreneur Christian Grey and his naive girlfriend Anastasia Steele.

The producers have promised that the sequel will be more of a thriller than a sexually charged romantic saga. The sequel of Fifty Shades Of Grey will pick up from where the first movie left off. In the previous movie, Ana leaves her billionaire boyfriend for good after he canes her in the Red Room of Pain.

The upcoming movie will show how Dornan's character will try to win Ana back, while she juggles between her new job, her attraction towards her obsessive lover and her stalker boss who demands sex from her. Fifty Shades Darker is set to premiere on 10 February 2017, while the third part in the series Fifty Shades Freed will premiere on 9 February 2018.